29 Oct 2014

Storytime Sounds app by notonthehighstreet.com

We are not huge fans of Halloween in the C-household. There is something about ghosts and ghouls that spooks me out. My little boy is as yet too little to get into the swing of all things halloweeny. That said, we love listening to stories. Well, I tell them and he listens. Although there are times when I have to be a patient listener as J narrates a recent adventure.

Most of our tales tend to revolve around spaceships and aliens. Good old-fashioned fairytales are quite to our taste as well. We have yet to embark on a ghoulish story-telling adventure, more because I get spooked by them even when I am the one telling the story, let alone listening to one.

Our story-telling now comes sprinkled with background sound effects courtesy of the Storytime Sounds app. I came across this iPhone app launched by notonthehighstreet.com, as part of a promotion by Mumsnet.

The app is free to download from the app store and is designed to add an audio dimension to make story time even more fun for families with kids aged 3-7 years.

The app currently features 5 soundboards for different storytelling themes. They have pirates, fairytales, lost world, space and monster.

Image courtesy: NOTHS and Mumsnet

There has been an update to the app with the addition of a sixth soundboard for Halloween. Each soundboard has nine different sounds to choose from. You can play them singly or merge them for an ongoing sound effect.

So whether you are reading from a storybook or spinning your own yarn to regale the children with, you can count on the Storytime Sounds to bring your story to life.

We start by choosing the soundboard that goes best with the story that is about to be narrated. Then J has a go pressing the buttons to produce the sounds. Sometimes quite at random. The effect is a more interactive story-telling session.

You can download the app for free from the i-tunes app store.

Disclaimer: I downloaded this free app for the purposes of this review and to be eligible for the £400 Mumsnet prize draw. No other compensation was received for this post.